I was invited on an all expenses paid trip by Disney to cover #Moana & #PetesDragonEvent. All opinions are my own.
“Three thousand years ago, the greatest sailors in the world voyaged across the vast Pacific, discovering the many islands of Oceania. But then, for a millennium, their voyages stopped – and no one knows why.”-Disney Moana
I am very excited for Disney’s newest animated movie MOANA to arrive in theaters November 23rd!
When I was in LA last month, I had the pleasure of sitting down with with the Head of Animation Amy Smeed, Head of Story Dave Pimentel, Story Artist Dave Derrick, “Mini Maui” Animation Supervisor Eric Goldberg and Development Sr. Creative Exec Jessica Julius to get a sneak peek at MOANA and how it was made.
I loved hearing about Moana, the research behind it, and getting to see clips from the movie. I want to share with you some of the fun things I learned…
- The creators went to pacific islands to research for the movie. They wanted to see not only the environments but also the culture and the people as inspiration for the film.
- Once there, the culture and the people changed the whole vision of the movie for the creators giving it a completely different feel inspired by seeing the people there.
The MOANA filmmakers embarked upon research trips to the Pacific Islands to learn about the cultures that inspired the film. They were given the opportunity to assemble the “Oceanic Story Trust,” a group of anthropologists, archeologists, fishermen, liguists, tatto masters, dancers and elders who help keep the film’s story grounded in respect for the cultures that inspired it. - Creators wanted to honor and celebrate a culture that has never been honored or celebrated in this way before.
MOANA story boards inspired by research trip to Samoa. Artist: David Derrick, Story Artist. - For the music in the film, creators wanted to blend contemporary song along with the music from the pacific.
- The cast for the movie had to be able to sing as well as act.
- I always find it so incredible and fascinating to see just how much work goes into making these animated films come to life.
- The idea they really wanted to resonate in the film is “you don’t know where you are going unless you know where you have been”.
From the clips I saw, this movie looks like it is going to be wonderful and I think they have captured the message they wanted perfectly. I can’t wait to see the whole movie in November.
After that presentation we got to have a little drawing lesson by “Mini Maui” Animation Supervisor Eric Goldberg to learn how to draw Mini Maui line by line.
Mini Maui is the tattoo character that lives on the character Maui, and he is kind of like his conscious. He doesn’t speak, he is just a pantomime character, so his movements are extremely important for getting his point across, we learned from Eric.
A fun fact about Mini Maui, is that he was hand drawn art on the CG character of Maui, so the hand drawn animators worked with the CG animators to bring both of these characters together.
Here is my finished Mini Maiu, not to shabby for someone who isn’t an artist I would say 🙂 It was fun learning to draw him.
We also got to watch the newest short called “Inner Workings” and got an introduction from the Director Leo Matsuda and Producer Sean Lurie.
““Inner Workings,” a new short from first-time director Leo Matsuda (story artist for “Big Hero 6,” “WreckIt Ralph”) is the story of the internal struggle between a man’s pragmatic, logical side and his free-spirited, adventurous half. Created by a small team at Walt Disney Animation Studios in a unique, fast-paced style that blends CG and traditional hand-drawn animation, the short explores the importance of finding balance in daily life. “Inner Workings” opens on Nov. 23, 2016, in front of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Moana.”“-Disney
I really enjoyed this short, it is cute and funny and has a really good and positive message about life. It is such a clever little short and the way it was done was very creative. I think everyone of all ages will enjoy this short.
INNER WORKINGS will Open in theaters before Disney’s MOANA.
MOANA arrives in theaters everywhere on November 23rd!
Visit the official MOANA website
Like MOANA on Facebook
Follow MOANA on Twitter, #Moana
Follow Disney Animation on Instagram
Visit Disney Animation on Tumblr
“From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes “Moana,” a sweeping, CG-animated feature film about an adventurous teenager who sails out on a daring mission to save her people. During her journey, Moana (voice of Auli’i Cravalho) meets the once-mighty demigod Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson), who guides her in her quest to become a master wayfinder. Together, they sail across the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds, and along the way, Moana fulfills the ancient quest of her ancestors and discovers the one thing she’s always sought: her own identity. Directed by the renowned filmmaking team of Ron Clements and John Musker (“The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” “The Princess & the Frog”) and produced by Osnat Shurer (“Lifted,” “One Man Band”), “Moana” sails into U.S. theaters on Nov. 23, 2016.”-Disney
